allnurses.com

After several months of extensive reading, I am now an officially registered member on allnurses.com.  This is a forum for nurses, by nurses...it is very inclusive, having discussion areas for pre-nursing students, current students, newly-graduated nurses, international nurses (this is where you'll find the Canadian nurses section!), nursing humour discussions, etc. etc.  It truly spans the range of 'nursing'.

It is a very dynamic on-line community, with approx. 5,000 users reading it at any given time, and having almost half a million registered users.  In the past month or so, there seems to be an over-whelming negative tone to many of the posts (hey, it is a place where nurses come to vent, but it was somewhat more negative than before -- others remarked on this too).  So much so that it was making me start to question the wisdom of leaving my current career to embark on this new journey.  However, as more people picked up on this negative trend, others made an effort to start posting about why they love nursing and how grateful they are to have chosen it as their career.  The site is also overwhelmingly supportive of 'second career' nurses, and people merely wondering if they're too old to start a career in nursing.

Perhaps in part thanks to my years of work experience, I am realistic enough to know that there is no such thing as a 'perfect' career or job.  Everywhere, in every situation, there will be moments of doing things one doesn't particularly enjoy (long meetings, in my current job!), but that it is important to look at the big picture.  If there are more enjoyable moments than non-so enjoyable moments, then that is good.  And most importantly, if one leaves work at the end of the day (or shift), and feels a sense of accomplishment or satisfaction in something that was done that day, then that is an excellent sign that the job is a good fit.

On the acceptance front, I am still waiting.  My university is still accepting applications, so no decisions are being made until early April.  In early February, some people on allnurses.com were saying that they're received their acceptances to Georgian, George Brown, Centennial College and a few other schools, for the BScN program for the fall.  This (of course!) made me a bit worried that I was missing the early acceptance curve, but this is not the case.  Early April is the soonest I can realistically expect to hear anything from my school of choice.

I have had a horrible week, fighting some nasty virus.  I am back at work today, as I have some energy back and am generally feeling better.  However, I wonder if my colleagues didn't wish I was still at home, as I am most certainly annoying everyone with my relentless coughing.  I wasn't back in my chair for 10 minutes, when my boss trotted over offering me a cough drop.  I assured her I came well supplied with them!  I will do them a 'favour' and leave for a one week vacation in a few days, to much warmer climes and white sand beaches....ahhhhh.....

I'll be back on my blog by late February!